Fishing
by carifoo2001
Summary: Dustpaw's first full day of apprenticeship, and his first day without his best friend Hawkpaw protecting him from everything. They're both reluctant to part for a day, as Dustpaw does to fish and Hawkpaw goes to patrol the borders. CloudClan challenge.


"What?! But I want to learn how to fish with Dustpaw! What if he falls in?!" Hawkpaw's amber eyes flashed with anger as his gaze fell on his new mentor, Silvertail.

Darkstream shook her head. "You don't have to be around Dustpaw every heartbeat of every day. He's fine with me."

Dustpaw glanced at his denmate with big blue eyes. "I'll be fine, Hawkpaw," he said softly.

Hawkpaw looked very concerned. Silvertail slipped between the two apprentices. "Borders, Hawkpaw. We'll see you later, Dustpaw. Darkstream." His voice was sultry and slow.

When Silvertail and Hawkpaw padded away, Darkstream led the frail apprentice to the river. The way there, his big eyes travelled over everything. He couldn't believe he had to memorize the whole territory…

When they arrived, the brown and white tom stared curiously at the body of water, stepping closer to it. He stuck a paw in, but quickly pulled it out. It was unexpectedly cold!

Darkstream purred in amusement. The dark grey she-cat stuck her paw in, and moments later pulled out a fish. It was silver, and flailing wildly.

"When I put this down, I want you to deliver the killing bite. Do you think you can do that?" She was struggling with the fish a bit.

Dustpaw nodded, and she put it down, her paws still on it. "Bite it here." He quickly did so, with only slight hesitation.

"Very good," she praised. "That's what you'll have to do when you catch your own fish." She put the fish aside.

"Now, to catch your own fish, you must stand so your shadow does not fall on the water." She glanced at his shadow, which was just next to the water, but not quite on it. "Then, you need to watch very closely. Do you see fish swimming?"

He nodded.

"You need to aim your paw at the place where the fish will be. Do you understand? Don't strike at the place where the fish is, or you'll never get one. They're very fast, and always moving, so for best results, aim for the place the fish will be when your paw lands."

Dustpaw was pretty sure he understood what she meant…

He saw a pretty large fish of a strange color swimming downstream, and he quickly did as his mentor had instructed. His paw came out of the water, empty. He'd forgotten to unsheathe his claws…

Darkstream purred as he licked his chest in embarrassment. "Next time, have your claws out so you can hook your claws into it. That was a good try! At least you touched the fish." She purred again, and Dustpaw's pelt felt hot.

They stayed by the river until sunset, and Dustpaw had managed to catch three fish, all of them small and silver.

"That was great, Dustpaw!" she praised as he pulled out his fourth fish. This one was larger than the others. He killed it, and thanked StarClan.

"Here, you take back that one you just caught. You can have it. I'll take back these."

The apprentice's eyes sparkled. "Really?!"

Darkstream purred. "Yes. Oh, and tell Hawkpaw…" her voice dropped to a small hiss. Dustpaw's blue eyes became impossibly bright.

"Thank you, Darkstream!" he grabbed the large fish, and hurried back to the camp. His mentor purred, and trailed slowly behind him.

Dustpaw found his way back from his own stale scent. He quickly found Hawkpaw, who was waiting anxiously by the camp entrance.

His friend's eyes widened when he saw the fish. "Did you catch that?" Dustpaw nodded, his eyes sparkling.

He set the fresh-kill down. "Do you… want to share it?" he asked quietly. The tortoiseshell tom nodded eagerly.

The two toms sat down and began to eat it, savoring the fishy taste. "Hawkpaw…" Dustpaw started. The apprentice in question glanced at him expectantly. "Darkstream said I can help teach you how to fish tomorrow!"

Hawkpaw's amber eyes gleamed. "That's fantastic! I can't wait!" He took another bite out of the fish. "I hope I get to show you the borders… It was really fun. I didn't like the scents of the other clans, though."

When they finished eating and sharing tongues, they headed to the apprentices' den, happily settling into the same nest and drifting off into a blissful sleep.


End file.
